A stupid little rally

I stood with my arms crossed, observing. I didn't have a sign, but I was protesting inside. I tried to keep a distance from those applauding. I couldn't tell if I was being perceived as a supporter or not, which was the last thing I wanted to be at that place and that moment. I listened and didn't respond, except under my breath. The hate that spewed from the microphone was saddening and sickening. I was almost shocked that this event was actually occurring; it would be easy to blame it on my being in Alabama, but this group was from South Bend, Indiana. (The local paper listed 150 people in attendance; if that was so, maybe 25-30% were there to support it, from what I gathered by being in the crowd.) Somewhat ironically, it was the singing of "Jesus Loves the Little Children" that finally brought the rally to an early end. This past Saturday in Tuscumbia, Alabama, which is the birthplace of Helen Keller, right across the Tennessee River from my hometown of Florence, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally to decry our nation's immigration issues, among other topics.

My sister Bethany and I went to observe. She had some friends who were part of a group protesting the event. Thank God they were there. They were the ones who helped bring it to an early end. I was somewhat surprised and definitely disappointed that something like this, a rally to spew racial superiority, hatred, and ignorance, can still draw a group to support it. I'm not surprised at people coming out to protest it; I'm so glad for that. I'm more disappointed that what I hoped were casual observers like me were actually there applauding statements like "Mexicans are ruining our country" and "the Bible endorses segregation/separation." It was actually said that "Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated" means God supports hatred towards Hispanics, Arabs, and any other non-whites. Ughhh.

The Klan's headquarters used to be in Tuscumbia, but moved to Arkansas in the late 80s or early 90s. This group that held this rally had a sign in front of the podium that stated they were from Indiana. The newspaper stated they were not sponsored or sent by the national organization of the KKK -- not sure what that means. But there stood six or seven men and at least one woman, in full robes, hoods on (though pulled up to reveal faces) and sad hearts exposed. I'm a big fan of free speech but can barely tolerate ignorant, hateful, and hate-inspired opinions and people. When Bethany and I were in Memphis last week, we visited the National Civil Rights Museum, which is an incredible place. We spent over three hours walkign through its exhibits, reading, listening, watching, and soaking in the history of the struggle from the recent past of so many people. My eyes swelled with tears reading Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, viewing the pictures of policeman hosing down a crowd, and reading the accounts of the vile actions of people as young black men and women quietly sat-in at lunch counters across the South. I was so impressed by the nobility of those sit-ins as well as the most famous one by Mrs. Rosa Parks. What courage and what honor.

And to see firsthand that hatred towards particular groups still exists in pockets of this country makes me sad. I'd like to believe we've moved on, but we haven't. Great strides have been made, but so much more work needs to be done. Not in legislatures or in the halls of congress; not in constitutions or in laws. Works desperately needs to be done in hearts. We're in dire need of softer, gentler, and more humble hearts across our country. It hurt mine to hear such awful things from a stranger at a podium a hundred yards away; it was more sad to watch people five feet from me nod their heads as those words flowed.

But hope lingers. However simple they may be, these words extinguished the flames of hate for a little while:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world

Right around the corner

I had a nice little run for several weeks of being consistent with my posts, but when school was let out, I've definitely slipped. Part of it has been the dial-up at my parents' house, part of it not being able to use the wireless cafe at the mall, part of it not being online as much. I did want to post some pics, but I'm going to have to wait until next week because blogger usually times out before it posts the pics when I'm using dial-up. How sad that I've got so little patience with internet connection.

The past couple of weeks have been good. I've been to Memphis a couple of times, back to Tuscaloosa once, and was in Birmingham for my Dad's graduation from law school. Luke was in town for that weekend, so all of us got to be together for a bit. I'm gearing up for my trip to Texas next week, stopping first in Houston for a couple of days and then moving on to San Antonio. I'm going to make a trip to Austin while I'm there to visit my cousin, his wife, and new baby. I'll finish up that trip in Oklahoma at Zenith, the high school camp I've worked at every summer since 2001 -- two years as a counselor when I interned and the past four on the ministry staff. It will be great to see some friends I've not seen since resigning from my youth ministry job, as well as a lot of the teens who were in my youth group.

Last night, we (Dad, Mom, Anna, Craig, Bethany, and me) went to dinner and Dad got out a piece of paper to create a calendar containing all of our schedules and trips. Anna and Craig are going to Australia for a month as sponsors for a mission trip with Lipscomb; Bethany is working for Lipscomb as a camp counselor at various church camps this summer, going to Northern Ireland on a mission trip, and then going to Costa Rica for a study-abroad program for the whole fall semester; Luke is working out a trip or two to the Dominican Republic, plans on moving back from Florida to Florence for the fall and then preparing to transition to mission work in the Dominican for next year; I'm traveling around like a chicken with its head cut off to Texas, Oklahoma, back to Alabama, Tennessee, on to California, and finally Florida. We're blessed to have so many opportunities to travel and work, play, minister, and experience so much of God's creation and what he's doing throughout his kingdom.

This seemingly maddening whirlwind of adventure across the highways and skyways is right around the corner. May it produce fruit of the eternal variety within everyone involved. And, most likely, I'll see a lot of you pretty soon...

Let the summer begin

Fortunately, my plugging away at my paper in small increments over the past several days resulted in its practical completion yesterday, prompting me to leave the library yesterday afternoon and be done with it for 24 hours. I'm going to review it tomorrow morning, add a conclusion, and send it in. This has also led to my sooner-than-expected departure from Tuscaloosa, which means I'll be getting home a day early. Bethany is on her way to T-town right now to hang out for a day and help me get my stuff back to Florence. But, we've got a bit of a detour before doing that.

She and I are going to Atlanta this afternoon to watch the Braves play tonight. John Smoltz and Greg Maddux are pitching against each other; Maddux was with the Braves from 1993-2003, a key part of their dominant run. He and Smoltz are two of the best pitchers in my lifetime and of their generation, so I hope the hype that's surrounding this match up will manifest in a brilliantly pitched game...we'll see. It's going to be fun to do this trip with Bethany and spend time with her. She's working for Lipscomb this summer, attending various camps as a representative and getting to serve as a counselor at the camps as well. She's perfect for the job; thankfully, we'll get some great hang out time before we take off in different directions for the summer, starting today. And I hope to remember to take my camera, which I forgot when Dad and I went a few weeks ago.

With all the traveling and visiting I'll be doing during the next several months, I hope to keep a photo journal of sorts in this space as I have time and internet access (not sure what that's going to be like at Disney -- but I do hope to get a picture with as many characters as possible).

I've thought for some time that the Chik-Fil-A "Eat More Chikin" ads with the cows are the best on-going marketing campaign, but Apple (with its "I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC." commercials) is quickly catching up. The latest:

I'm not exactly sure why, but I love this Dr. Pepper commercial. Gulping the two liter is almost too much.



And a look at Ninja Warrior -- this was made for my brother to compete in.

I stayed up last night watching the Spurs vs. Nuggets. If you're a basketball fan and missed this game, ouch. Sure, it's the first round of the playoffs and the "important" games aren't being played yet ("I don't watch until the Finals, 'cause that's when it matters" is such a stupid thing to say), but this was exciting basketball. Melo was making everything; Iverson was cutting through the defense and getting to the rim without too much difficulty; the Nuggets' bigs were picking up the misses and putting them back; and San Antonio just kept hanging around, lingering, keeping the game within striking distance. I kept thinking, "This is shaping up to be a game the Spurs can steal...I just hope they can make some stops."

And, what do you know, they did. They turned up the pressure, made some big shots, and kept their calm the whole time through. Even with Duncan getting hacked without getting any calls; even with Parker driving through the lane, getting knocked down without a foul called; even with a poor percentage from the 3-point line, they stuck with what they knew to do: high defensive intensity, smart decisions offensively, keep the ball moving and a good shot will emerge, and leave it all on the court. It's so rewarding as a basketball fan to watch a team play unselfishly (mentioning smart would be redundant, I think). Like Horry said after the game -- the play where he made a big 3 from the corner was not designed for him; it was designed for Tony, but when you play team ball, those opportunities come up. He was ready and he made the shot. I laughed out of excitement and amazement when his shot went in, out of excitement and amazement that he continues to make shots like that.

I was glad, too, that Kenny and Charles in the TNT studio spoke up about how much Duncan was getting hacked and the absurdity that he wasn't going to the free-throw line. Doug Collins, the color analyst for the game, made me mad by completely ignoring this. I'm sure commentators are told to watch their words regarding the officials, but there were some awful calls both ways. Thankfully, the officials didn't determine the game; but the absence of those calls just bothers my idea of fairness and justice, of an impartial game. If my guys are going to get called for fouling, then make sure the same standard is being played out on the other end too. All that to say, Kenny and Charles know what they're talking about and their comments confirmed that I wasn't missing something or letting my cheering for the Spurs cloud the game I was watching.

Game 5 on Wednesday. I hope the game's not close (and in the Spurs favor) because Lost comes on at 9:00 and I'm not going to be able to flip back and forth between the two.